DEAR HELOISE: I recently had a new sofa delivered to my home, and the two men who delivered the item were rather young. One fellow asked if he could use my

restroom, and I told him that he couldn’t use it but that there was a fast food place at the end of the street. They have clean restrooms there. He wasn’t happy and threw the paperwork at me as he left.

So, why did I say “no”? About four months ago, we had a new dishwasher delivered and installed, and the guys asked if they could use the restroom. Foolishly, I said “yes.” They stole medication that my husband uses and medication that I take for high blood pressure. We replaced the drugs (and it was expensive), but I won’t let strangers near the bathrooms again.

I even called the delivery company, and they told me their employees do not steal. Well, they stole from us!

— Elaine and Greg R., Anaheim, California

Elaine and Greg, I’m sorry to hear about this, but yours is not the first letter I’ve received concerning this problem. Apparently it’s becoming a problem in other states besides California.

— Heloise

DEAR HELOISE: Two nights ago, my husband and I went out to a very nice place for dinner to celebrate my birthday. My husband asked the waiter, “Excuse me, we love your dinner rolls. Could we please get a couple more?” When the rolls arrived, we thanked him.

The man at a table next to ours wanted another glass of wine and shouted, “Hey, I need another glass of red, and hurry up! I don’t like waiting.” They made little effort in hurrying with his request.

The point of my telling you about this is to show that good manners will earn you respect and cooperation, while being rude seldom gets you what you want. A great many people work hard for a living, and they don’t appreciate being treated as though they’re stupid or subservient.

— Hilary V., in Denver

DEAR HELOISE: I’ve installed water heaters for several years, and I highly recommend that people insulate their water heater with insulation that is designed for water heaters. It can usually be found in hardware stores. However, a word of warning: Do not cover up the air inlet and outlet ports on the top and bottom of the tank.

If you’ve never done this before, you might want to consider hiring a plumber to do the insulation installing.

— B.J., in

Eden Prairie, Minnesota

B.J., keeping a water heater insulated is worth it over the years. It reduces your utility bill by a little each month.

— Heloise

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Heloise@Heloise.com

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